20-Minute Walking Practice

This 20-minute walking practice is guided in the tradition of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Vipassana meditation. It is intended to invite curiosity about the body and to offer an opportunity to practice embodied awareness and presence. Directions for both formal and informal practice.

Transcript

Walking meditation.

Walking meditation is an opportunity,

An opportunity to bring awareness and attention to the moving body.

It's a time to connect with the body in a calm and intentional manner,

To become embodied and to appreciate the body's natural movement.

Just as the body knows how to breathe,

The body knows how to walk.

And so we invite ourselves to use walking as an anchor for our attention,

With sensations of the body as we walk to be the focus of attention.

Simple walking can be done before or after seated practice or simply on its own as its own practice.

And through this practice,

Continuing to cultivate mindful awareness and presence.

So as you listen to this guidance,

Perhaps finding yourself in a comfortable standing posture.

Just taking a few moments perhaps to find a space to remove your shoes or even your socks.

And to locate a space either indoors or outdoors that's about 10 to 30 paces in length.

So taking a moment to find this path for mindful walking.

And choosing a starting point,

Wherever that may be,

Just coming into the standing posture.

You might even allow your eyes to softly close or to gently gaze at the floor in front of you.

To allow the face to soften,

For the shoulders to roll onto the back,

For that weight of the arms to just release,

Allowing the arms to rest easy at your sides,

And for the hands to be in an easeful position next to the body.

And continuing to allow the body to soften as you bring attention down the legs into the soles of the feet.

Standing here,

Coming into the full awareness of standing from the top of the head,

Spine aligned to the hips,

Down the legs,

And into the feet.

Just allowing yourself to be present to all that is here as the body holds itself in space.

Perhaps noticing the pressure,

The soles of the feet,

Sensations of touch,

Contact with the surface below,

Whether the feet are bare,

Or socks,

Or in shoes.

If your eyes are slightly open,

Perhaps noticing visuals in the periphery or in front of you.

You might be noticing sounds,

Sensation of air moving in the room,

Coolness,

Or warmth.

Make sure to allow the knees to be soft.

Noting anywhere in the body,

Perhaps,

That you are holding tightness or tension.

And no need to change or control any experience,

Simply to become aware,

To notice.

So from this relative centered stillness,

Perhaps beginning to notice a subtle movement of the body.

This could be a movement of the breath.

The torso rises on the inhale,

Softens on the exhale,

And a gentle swaying of the breath creates in the body.

Perhaps inviting yourself to move a little more intentionally with the swaying.

Maybe swaying forward onto the toes and back onto the heels,

Mindful of balance,

Stability,

Or instability.

Perhaps opening the eyes if they've been closed,

Allowing your gaze to focus on a spot in front of you to assist the body in balancing.

Perhaps rocking from side to side,

Feeling the sensations contact with the feet.

Body engaging as the mind follows these instructions.

So move front to back,

Side to side,

Maybe even moving in a circle in one direction,

Feeling all the points of contact on the sides of the feet,

Toes,

The insides of the feet,

Heels.

Just taking this all in,

Reversing the circle.

And then coming back to center,

Again grounding,

Perhaps taking a breath intentionally,

Deepening the inhale,

And lengthening the exhale.

One more time,

Breathing in and out.

And once again,

Breathing in and out.

Now if your eyes have been closed,

I invite you to open your eyes to once again see yourself standing here at the head of the path.

So once again,

Bringing attention to the soles of the feet,

And remembering this intention to be with the body through walking,

Bringing awareness and attention specifically to the sensations of walking in the feet,

The legs,

The torso,

The arms,

The breath.

So now beginning to shift,

Shifting the weight onto one foot,

Noting the mind's decision or the body's choice to lean onto one particular side.

And from this position,

Noting the weight in that standing leg as you begin to gently lift the heel of the opposite leg.

Starting to lift the leg,

Extending the foot,

Moving the foot forward and placing the heel and planting the foot.

And so shifting and lifting,

Moving and placing.

You may choose to walk slowly at first as you begin this practice.

Choosing to walk in this way perhaps for 10 to 30 minutes.

And as you move along the path in this way,

You might encounter the mind wandering.

And as soon as you notice,

The mind has wandered,

Noting where has the mind gone?

Where did it wander to?

Clots,

Plans,

The past,

The future,

To some other aspect of your felt experience.

And so as soon as you notice,

Acknowledging with kindness,

Compassion,

And non-judgment to this thinking or planning,

Hearing or seeing,

And coming back to the sensations of walking.

Holding these intentions to move with ease and dignity.

Taking the body for a stroll,

Tending to the natural and easy movement of the body.

And as you walk,

You may find that you come to the end of your path.

Pause here,

Noting this experience of coming to the end of the path.

You might stop,

Close your eyes,

Take a breath,

Note the state of the mind and the body,

The heart.

What is here?

Before you turn,

Noting the mind's reactivity to this sense of turning.

Does the mind want to choose to turn in one particular direction or resisting?

And so choosing to turn around,

Doing so mindfully,

Aware of the body,

The steps it takes to turn the body and to begin your walk back.

So once you've turned,

Pausing once again,

Centering,

Shifting,

Lifting,

Moving,

And placing.

And throughout this practice,

You may experiment with speed,

With water,

With energy,

With walking in a particular fashion,

Forward or backward.

Again,

Continuing to return to the feeling of each step.

And as you do,

You may notice the mind creating stories about how well you are practicing,

Whether you are able to balance or not,

Whether this is a good walking practice or a not so good walking practice.

And so we note the judging mind,

The comparing mind.

You kindly acknowledge the mind and come back to this moment by moment experience of moving and walking,

Being in the body,

With the body.

No matter if the mind wanders or for how long it wanders away,

We simply come back again and again to walking.

And so continuing this walking practice,

For as long as you choose,

Knowing that you can return to this walking practice in this formal way or to take this practice into your daily life informally as you walk from your house to the car,

From your car to your job,

At the grocery store,

Walking your dog,

Enjoying walking for its own sake,

Allowing the mind to cultivate this wakefulness and presence,

This kind awareness of itself and of this body,

Allowing the thinking mind to take some time to be on its own and to bring the sensing mind into the foreground.

When walking,

Just walk.

When breathing,

Just breathe.

Simply being here in this moment.

Take lymphop describe yourself ion the day being except for the morning and of the day